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EAST LIVERPOOL --The Finance and Utility Committees for the East Liverpool City Council held a joint committee meeting April 11 to discuss the possibilities of resurrecting the Public Utility Board, increasing water rates and utilizing RITA (Regional Income Tax Agency) for the city's income tax.
Tim Clark served as former water superintendent for 32 years and was utility director when the Public Utility Board was dissolved. He said the board was always fair, put a lot of thought into each decision and worked well at problem-solving. The board was working on a plan to replace the degrading water meters in the city for more accurate billing when it was dissolved. Consequently, all the progress was lost and the plan was never implemented.
Council member Brian Kerr said that while the previous board had three members, he would like to see five members on the new board.
When council member Scott Barrett asked what the advantage would be to having the public utility board for water over having the administration handle it, Mayor Gregory Bricker responded that it was taking power from the administration and giving it to the board and that he believes they have all been in favor of bringing the board back since his term began.
Having a board in place could prove to be beneficial for employees as well. The previous board had a policy manual and employees could not just be fired. They would have a hearing before the board.
According to Fred Rayl, the board was originally put in place over 60 years ago and was dissolved in 2018. Kerr believes having the board in place would also alleviate the safety director from having so many tasks to deal with. All council members are in favor of bringing back the Board of Public Utilities.
Bricker advised council members to start thinking about who they would recommend sitting on the board. Multiple council members said they would like Clark to be one of them based on his knowledge and experience. Council members also agreed that while he can't sit on the board if brought back, the Utility Committee Chair should attend board meetings to serve as a link between council and the board.
The committees will be moving the decision to bring back the Board of Public Utilities for council to vote on.
The Finance Committee will meet next at 3 p.m. on April 25 in the council chambers at city hall.